Extras and Nonsense
by thegreatroshen
Summary: Various omakes for The Voice of Life, some canon, some not.
1. What the Diva saw

**A/N: This is canon. This is exactly what was going through Genesis' mind leading up to his desertion from SHINRA. Please enjoy!**

* * *

She was interesting. Infuriating. Impossible.

Genesis had called Nerilka Thomas all of these things in a very unkind way once. She was an obstacle, a threat to one of his closest friends in the world with some hidden plot that she would reveal to him under pressure if he pushed hard enough.

Then one night changed that all.

She was interesting because she strode boldly forward as Rufus' pretty savaged a guard badly, eyes burning with fury and her voice crackling like a whip as she called the beast to heel. What's more, he obeyed.

She was infuriating because she couldn't just stay in that little category he had put her in with the rest of her gender, she didn't fit anywhere under anything he had ever experienced. Not only did she call the guardhound to heel, but she then knelt and mended the wounds of the injured with deft, skillful magic that spoke of long practice and a talent that took him aback. Not a drop of energy was wasted. He only wished he had been closer and more alert to sense the flow of her magic to determine what exactly she had done...

She was impossible because with all the publicity she got, which surely had to have been at least a part of her goal, she only looked tired and wanted it to go away. The fame, the chance to be connected personally with Rufus Shinra...

Rill later confided to him that the events had been a deliberate ploy by Rufus. He wanted her to be there on his side, but she just wanted to stay where she was because she was happy.

And Genesis saw, to his amazement that she was.

Almost everyone who saw Rill sitting behind her desk, walking through the corridors with measured, precise movements and her truly spectacular eyes hidden but it no wise dulled by glasses, couldn't help but smile.

She was fantastic. Funny. Fearless.

She listened and could understand when he spoke about the nuances of theater, or literature, or battlefield schematic. She could give input and it was solid council.

Funny.

Her cool as ice routine in handling the rowdy SOLDIERS of the Shinra army was hilarious. Many was the time Genesis had to duck into Sephiroth's office to avoid cackling with laughter as Rill disciplined the burly, fighting men as if she were their mother and they reacted humbly and contritely to her criticism.

Fearless.

No matter what happened, Rill would always act. Sitting still wasn't in her nature if action was needed. She would speak to every person as if they were just that, a person. It didn't matter who it was, Rill wouldn't bat an eye and would just move on.

Genesis only realized how far he had fallen when he overheard one SOLDIER, a 3rd Class named Sergeant Lucas, asking his cohorts, with some trepidation, how best to ask the Queen of the Soldiers out on a date without getting Masamune put through them. It wasn't what they said; it was how he reacted to it.

Genesis was furious.

He didn't say anything directly, but he did intervene with vicious satisfaction as he kept the man far away from Rill until he was sent to Wutai.

He only realized later that he had been thrilled at the prospect of sending someone to die if it meant they stayed away from Rill. It made no sense for him to be so happy, she would have just turned him down like all the other faceless peons that tried to get her attention. If they wanted to have a chance with her, they had to know her and she had to know them…

(She liked green, and growing things. Her cooking was divine, she was gorgeous when she decided to forgo wearing her pointless, distracting mask of glasses and professionalism. There was a difference in her smiles from when she received a compliment from other people or when she got one from Zack or him. There was a dimple in her cheek when her lips, always rosebud pink and perfectly shaped, curved up in that tiny smile that always said so much...)

Genesis stared down at the whiskey glass in his hand.

There were people all around him. Plenty of women had noticed him, but he couldn't seem to see them as potential company. Their eyes were too light a blue, their hair was dyed, it was all wrong...

He was at one of his preferred bars. The clientele was usually refined and poised enough to not gawk openly, the entertainment was a reading of some excellent traditional Costan poetry, his favorite Scarlet Mountain whiskey had been on tap that night... And all Genesis could think about was the next morning where he could go and see Rill in her office, watch her as she sorted files and drank her fragrant, steaming tea and count the strands of hair that strayed out of her up-do.

She was the highlight of his day. Everything else was seen as secondary to it. It was less the time spent asleep that counted his days now. It was how long he got to spend with her.

'I love her.' Genesis concluded, hardly able to believe he had been so careless as to allow her to steal his heart.

* * *

'Then have it be friendship.' His eyes softened.

No. Rill had never wanted more than a platonic friendship from anyone, it was what made her put down and tactfully turn a blind eye to Zack's fruitless infatuation and admiration. It was what made her treat Sephiroth, one of the most undeniably handsome men in the world, like an ordinary human being, something his friend had always longed for.

She hadn't stolen his heart, he had simply left it unguarded and been lax in regards to his feelings. Without his awareness, he had latched onto her warmth and grace so tightly, Genesis knew that he would never get his old way of life back. She had changed him forever.

Something else that he realized, somewhat uncomfortably, was that his view of Sephiroth had changed. Over time, the satisfaction of seeing him enjoy Rill's company had waned. She was too often busy doing one thing or another for him. So often, she would subtly mother him and his friend didn't seem to notice or appreciate it. Not enough at any rate.

Genesis saw the sacrifice and effort that Rill put out, and she did it for barely adequate thanks. She was on the road to overworking herself and when that happened, no one would be there to take care of her the way she cared for so many others. And it was starting to chafe more and more that Genesis couldn't control her work schedule and seer to it that she got some time off. The moments he could catch her outside of work were far too infrequent...

Hollander was being a pest too, with his shifty ambition and barely passable conduct.

Eventually, it all came to a head. It was during one of their typical three way spars, between himself, Angeal and Sephiroth. Genesis knew that Rill sometimes monitored them to keep their vigor from destroying the SIM room, but he was keeping an eye out and hadn't seen anything...

Sephiroth's phone chimed out, a soft, gentle sound that brought to mind wind chimes echoing through a forest. Almost instantly, he stepped back and disengaged from combat, the only time Genesis could recall him doing so.

Angeal, fair minded and far too decent Angeal, stepped back as Sephiroth looked at his phone.

"Have they announced the oncoming apocalypse? " Genesis asked drolly. Sephiroth rolled his eyes slightly.

"No, just a reminder from Rill to be gentle on the room. Apparently someone found another colony of lemurs in the cubicle areas, so she can't monitor us personally today. "

"Does she ever rest?" Angeal asked, somewhat concerned.

"If she does, I don't know when." Sephiroth frowned. "I always thought civilians didn't have this kind of discipline, but she keeps surprising me at every turn." Genesis had an idea, a random, crazy, selfish idea.

"How about this, Sephiroth? We make it a wager. Two on one, if Angeal or I win, Rill transfers to one of us for a week to give her a break from keeping the whole army from falling apart." Catlike green eyes narrowed dangerously for a split second and Genesis found himself facing the full stare of the Silver General. Then it was gone as soon as it had appeared, replaced by that same calm certainty that dominated his fighting style: No-one could beat him. Not in this scenario. No one was good enough to so much as make him break a sweat. Not even them, though they came a far sight closer than others.

But right now, with this wager, and weeks of Hollander, he hated it.

* * *

His shoulder felt as though it was on fire but his pride stung more.

Genesis was angry as he stormed up from the fiasco of a training session with Sephiroth and Angeal.

'I got too invested.' He concluded bitterly. 'It was just a dumb bet, a childish one at that.' His voice of reason pointed out that both he and Sephiroth had been taking things very seriously indeed. They had both been in it to win. And to win one specific person. Genesis tried not to let it bother him that he had lost horribly to Sephiroth.

'It doesn't mean anything.' He told himself, keeping up his steady current of curative magic to keep his shoulder from bleeding too profusely. 'He's a living legend for a reason, no one has beaten him in years, nor have they ever done it the same way twice.' Genesis had seen Sephiroth defeated only rarely and back in their first year of service, while they were still in basic training. The silver-haired genius hadn't lost in over ten years and he had never been beaten by Angeal, or Genesis, only by more experienced SOLDIER who were their superior officers once upon a time.

The knowledge that he could probably never best Sephiroth weighed like a stone in his stomach and left a bad taste in his mouth. His shoulder really did hurt abominably.

'It was just a shallow cut, what is this?' Genesis had been planning on treating his own wound. He would rather eat Angeal's dirty socks than go to Hollander for help right now. Fortunately, he had another option...

Genesis didn't head for his quarters in the Shinra building, a well furnished, company provided to room in Shinra HQ to encourage him to spend as much time in and with the company as possible. He instead went for Rill's office, feeling his steps grow lighter just by thinking about being in her presence.

She was already setting out medical supplies when he opened the door and snapping some sanitary gloves onto her small, almost petite hands. He swore Hollander never made the action look so poised and professional.

He didn't hear much of what she was saying, he just answered automatically, relaxed and relished the moment that despite his pain, every scrap of her attention was on him right then. The relief that her blessedly cool and soothing magic brought was only partly from her expertly numbing the pain and mostly from the feeling of closeness it brought.

It was as if their very souls were connected. This kind of potent closeness had been what made Genesis chase off any lowly personnel who tried to get Rill to play nurse. She hadn't helped by continuing to take care of anyone who walked through her door.

But it was one thing, just one of a substantial list by this point, that he loved about her.

She helped him out of his ruined coat and gave him a flat look when he tore his shirt off instead of taking it off normally. It was a lost cause anyway and he may as well show off a little. Her reaction was subtle but there was the faintest tinge of color to her cheeks that made Genesis feel much better about the whole affair, pain aside.

Then her brow furrowed and her eyes gained an almost electric focus. Genesis could feel her magic, considerable despite lack of experience, struggle against something inside him.

"This...will probably hurt." Genesis tightened his grip on the edge of her desk. He always wanted to be very careful of her personal space. If he tried to push things now into getting comfortable with touching her, she might realize his feelings had left platonic behind quite some time ago. So he reined himself in and waited.

But when he felt Rill's magic again, it wasn't cool or soft, it was powerful and fierce. A hot, angry fire that flooded his veins not with the intent to harm but the impassioned determination to heal, save and make whole.

Genesis trembled with restraint as he was assailed by intense, powerful emotions, feelings that he had never dared dream Rill felt towards him. Hope and exhilaration kept him conscious and strong as she managed to seal up his wound after forcing a sick, toxic looking black pus from it. But he felt like he was on top of the world.

His high came crashing down when Genesis returned to Rill's office after cleaning up and getting ahold of himself. His goal was to ask her out and dispense with the pretense of simple friendship. Yes, he knew she was young, almost 9 years his junior, which had come as quite a shock to him. But he had concluded that they were both adults and he was willing to wait for her if that was what she wanted. But he was done with waiting right now.

She was nowhere to be seen and he sent a concerned text to her, but didn't receive a prompt answer like he usually did. That made him worry. Rill always found someway to answer her phone no matter what crazy nonsense she had found herself in.

He found Lazzard looking murderous as he came by and locked Rill's office.

"What's going on?" Genesis demanded, alarmed at the implications.

"Rill's sick." Lazzard replied grimly. "Sephiroth called it in for her, she was passed out and feverish when he called."

Both were signs of magical exhaustion.

"Did he check her magical reserves?"

"He wasn't in a talking mood." No, Genesis could imagine he wouldn't be. He wasn't in that great of a mood either. In fact he felt like finding a nice, big, angry ruby dragon and killing it with his bare hands. Or letting it eat him.

His foolhardiness, his pride, that had kept him from going to proper medical authorities at first had brought this on Rill. She had truly pushed herself to the utmost limit for his sake and he was too ecstatic over her returning his feelings to notice her condition!

"Where is she?" The director of SOLDIER gave him a look.

Ok, so he wasn't being subtle anymore! The woman he loved was potentially dying, he was entitled to being a little abrupt!

"I believe Sephiroth was taking her home until her family could come and care for her." Lazzard said, looking at his phone. "I don't know where she lives, the Turks are very protective of her." He had noticed that, it did bother him a little, it was hardly necessary.

"Why is that?"

"Veld and Tseng are old family friends. Rill was practically raised by Turks." Which explained a lot about her personality and sometimes uncanny capabilities, but didn't make Genesis feel any better!

"You mean to say that every Turk in the company knows where Rill lives-?" 'But I don't?!'

Lazzard's silence confirmed the commanders incredulous demand.

Talking to Turks about non work related things was about as productive as a hung-over Palmer. Especially with as protective as they had made themselves out to be of the young secretary. Genesis was not looking forward to this...

They were about as helpful as he had expected. And since Sephiroth had dropped off the face of the planet as well, calling in some of his many, previously never used vacation days, Genesis and Angeal were covering his workload, and doing it without the central force that kept things moving in the SOLDIER department. Rufus Shinra was running himself ragged trying to keep up with the accidents and mishaps Rill usually nullified before they got out of hand and just about everyone was feeling her absence. Genesis was almost out of his mind with worry and this constant stream of reports, orders and drills proved to be pleasantly numbing to his unhinged feelings.

It was only when he found Zack conversing on the phone in the empty break room that Genesis paused. Zack was only ever serious for missions or when Angeal was training him. This was neither, so...

'Rill.' Zack's crush had abated as the girl made it clear to all parties that she was not interested, but he still cared for her deeply. If he got so much as a whisper of evidence that she would say yes, he would probably have spoken up. Not that that fact mattered anymore, but-

"-any better? Everyone's on edge in here." Genesis froze to listen with all his strength.

He couldn't make out all of the words the other line was issuing but Zack's face grew grim.

"Oh man...she'll pull through though. I mean, it's Rill, she-" A slight tremor ran through him and his fingers tightened on the plastic casing of his phone with an ominous creak.

"Right...ok..." Zack sounded a little choked. "Yeah...yeah...you better let me know if anything changes, Red, or your hair goes up in smoke for real this time...bye." He hung up the phone and stared at the wall for a moment.

The young man's normally amiable and cheerful face looked downcast and frustrated. Angeal passed Genesis and entered the break room just as Zack put his fist through the reinforced wall with a loud crack of splintering wood and the whine of damaged metal.

"No change?" Angeal asked his protege, not looking as disapproving as he usually would at the moment of lapse in his discipline.

"...worse." Zack said, pulling his fist free and flexing it as the splinters in his knuckles popped out of tiny puncture wounds as he powered up his Cure materia. "She's got some kinda uber infection that's keeping her magic from recovering. She hasn't woken up once and her fever's getting higher." And as her fever rose, without her magic there to bolster her health, the chance of mental damage or death rose higher as well.

Worse, total magic depletion was already a 20% chance of fatality.

"They'll take care of her, Zack." Genesis heard this as though coming from a long distance away, he was rooted to the spot as he processed this new information.

"I know, but..." Zack's fist tightened in obvious effort to stay still and not destroy the wall he stood by entirely. "But it's still hell to not be able to be there for her...I joined SOLDIER to protect people, and-"

"And now someone you care about is fighting a solo engagement that you can't help her with." Angeal finished the though, laying a hand on up the younger man's shoulder. "In times like this Zack, the only thing a man can do is pray, wait and be ready for whenever they call."

"But it's stupid!" Zack burst out in a display of immature anger, "Gongaga's been hit with ever major disease and infection that exists and another fifty that don't! And I'm a SOLDIER, why can't I just go?!"

"Neither you nor I are doctors, Zack, nor are we specialized in treating this. Until the professionals say it's all clear, then we listen and stay where we are."

"The Turks aren't professionals when people get sick either!"

"But they do have two specialists that they are keeping anonymous working on her." Genesis could hear that Angeal was rattled too, he was just keeping a calm face on for Zack's sake. He turned abruptly and started walking away.

His own helplessness in this situation was making the prospect of destroying several walls feel quite appealing. And not only that, but he was deliberately being kept in the dark about Rill's condition!

A dull throb raced along his back and shoulder, the same shoulder Rill had healed.

Genesis glowered down at the thin red line that was refusing to fade even a week after the fact. In fact, he thought it was getting broader...

This damnable injury was the cause of this terror. If he hadn't asked Rill to heal him, she wouldn't have strained herself and come down with this strange infection when someone brought it into the building...

 _'This is your fault.'_ The thought came abruptly. _'It all started because you couldn't keep your mouth shut and got into that fight with Sephiroth. Because you could never be good enough.'_

Genesis angrily shoved the voice into the back of his mind.

But it didn't go completely silent.

And an idea is such a hard thing to kill.

* * *

Two days of stress and worry later, Genesis heard someone running down the hall and rose to see if he had to head off another 'emergency of truly ridiculous proportions'.

The opened door revealed Zack running hellbent for leather for the stairwell. Genesis managed to catch him.

"What is it now?" He asked, voice coming out somewhat flat.

"I gotta go!" Zack insisted, squirming valiantly to free himself.

Knowing that this statement might be all too literal, Genesis paused.

"Did the cafeteria send out a warning notice-"

"Not that, I gotta go! She's awake!"

"When you say she..."

"It's Rill!"

It felt like Genesis' heart just started beating again, like he could breathe again...

Persuading Zack to disclose Rill's address was a process in and of itself. Genesis was most fortunate that the Turks on duty were willing to part with a pair of handcuffs and a gag. It had been getting difficult to restrain the high spirited young man so he could have his moment with Rill. He would have preferred not bringing him at all, but the Turks had refused to tell him where she lived so he was working with limited resources. Angeal, a true friend if there ever was one, had stepped up for both him and the still absent Sephiroth so he could even make this visit.

It was slightly concerning how quickly the Turks had complied to his request, but he was too focused on seeing Rill with his own eyes to worry too much.

He heard women's voices from inside as he approached. Likely Rill's family had arrived to tend her after she was declared safe. He knocked with a strange, eager queasiness in his stomach that could not be dispelled with any of the mental tricks he had learned over the years to cope with pressure.

Then the door opened and Genesis forgot about everything except the sight before him.

Rill was looking a little pale and strained, signs of just how ill she had been, but the glow of life was in her cheeks and her eyes and she was already starting to smile and greet him.

He couldn't help it, he embraced her and just tried to breathe her in.

Her hair was damp from a recent shower, she felt small and fragile in his arms, he could feel the steady pulse of her heartbeat. Strong, sure and alive...

'You're alive...'

He managed to speak, but didn't hear entirely what he was saying. An older woman who very much resembled Rill was standing just to the side of the entry, a warm smile on her face.

Then he saw him.

Sephiroth was standing in Rill's apartment in regular street clothes.

He was in her apartment with her family.

And suddenly it was obvious as to why Sephiroth had taken days off.

He hadn't been away on vacation as Genesis had half hoped.

He had called in that Rill was sick and had then stayed with her the entire time.

"Next time you take a vacation, you might give a little more warning."

"Not so fun being in my place, is it?" Sour, sullen anger flared into life in Genesis' stomach.

In his place?

He would give anything to be in Sephiroth's place, right then and there. In her home, in her life and confidence, far closer than he had assumed. And he had never noticed...

 _'You already have everything else...can't you leave me just this one thing?'_ He turned away, hauling Zack with him.

The image of Sephiroth was dueling with the concern and feeling in Rill's eyes.

Once again, she didn't know what she had done. And he had it the wrong way around, being concerned for what Rill might be doing. He should have been more worried over what Sephiroth was doing to her.

Genesis was hurt, angry and dejected as he stalked into a private SIM room in Shinra HE and relentlessly attacked as many Sephiroth replicas as he could.

He was so enraged that he managed to defeat several of the lower levelled ones. Once he got to Lv 8, still evaluated at a mere 2/3rds of Sephiroth's actual strength, Genesis took a hit. The simulation stabbed out with the long odachi blade and Genesis barely managed to deflect it, switching Rapeir to his left hand in order to avoid being stabbed to the heart.

He felt something tear in his shoulder as the tender skin gave way under the strain and pain flooded his mind.

When he came to, the SIM had shut down in response to his lapse in attention and Genesis found tatters where his coat had been and a large, bedraggled, black feathered wing on his back.

He stared at it, scarcely able to think through the pain.

 _'Not clever enough to see what Sephiroth was doing. Not good enough to beat him to anything. Too proud to see Rill couldn't handle what you were asking of her. Too stupid to just go and see if she was alright as soon as you heard.'_

If he had insisted, gone to visit her, been the one who had been by her side through this illness.

He would have been inside that apartment with her instead of Sephiroth.

* * *

The verdict was as damning as a prison door.

Genesis was dying of a wretched disease and the only way Hollander would cure him is if he agreed to wage this petty war against Hojo. Hojo was with Shinra. And Shinra had Rill.

It was his life or his soul. Either he died, or he faded into obscurity, pushed into the background yet again by Sephiroth.

He had no good options.

Either he lost everything he had ever fought for, or he died.

Genesis wanted to scream, to rage that this wasn't fair. That it wasn't supposed to be like this.

But nothing ever answered.

He gave the order quietly to his men, ordering them to keep silent about it and make ready for their deployment and their grand mutiny against Shinra. Platoons were shipped out alongside their supplies, but Genesis delayed as long as he could. He had a thought...

What if she came with him? What if he did this, but she joined him.

It wasn't likely, she didn't condone any needless waste of life, but if he could persuade her...

Hope rekindled with a bright, feverish heat and he clung to it even though it burned, even though he knew she wouldn't come.

 _'She has him. Why would she leave him for you?'_


	2. What if?

**A/N: This a non-canon AU that my sister threw together on a whim, where Rill joins the Turks to get into Shinra. It's just a drabble and will probably never be followed up on in any way, shape, or form.**

* * *

She was a strange Turk, that was for certain. Sephiroth had noticed her when the rookie Turk, a girl named Nerilka, was swiftly promoted to a Turk Officer. Reno had groused about it, how the kid who didn't look more than sixteen was in charge of him and many other senior officers. She was Tseng's personal ward but unlike the stoic Wutian, Rill almost always had a smile on her face. A serene, calm smile that was a thousand times more unnerving than any frown or scowl.

Since she was added to the roll, however, Sephiroth noticed that paperwork from the Turk department about joint patrols and other information came in much faster and was much better organized. Historically, the Turks had been approximately as enthusiastic as a sloth in any cooperative ventures with SOLDIER, instead viewing the other department as rivals, so the sudden change piqued Sephiroth's interest.

Curious as to how this slip of a woman was managing to corral the Turks, specifically, Reno, he decided to pay her a visit.

"She mostly does organization work and keeps us focused but she's pretty good with materia too." Reno admitted as he sauntered down the hall beside the taller SOLDIER. "Everyone loves her. Apparently, they used to know her when she was a kid down in the slums. She's everyone's baby."

"But you wouldn't call it favoritism?"

"That's totally what is it, yo! Thing is, she's still darn good at what she does and so smart that anyone who says anythin' just gets ignored." Reno peered around the edge of one of the firing ranges. "She hasn't really been here long enough for me to get her pattern, so this might take awhile. Sorry, Seph."

"I have time." He didn't actually, but the longer he could put off dealing with the mountains of paperwork in his office, the better. Angela and Genesis could not get back from front line service fast enough and as soon as they did, he was going on vacation for a month.

They found her in one of the larger, less used firing ranges. She was being instructed in a variety of firearms by Tseng from handguns to a sniper rifle. She had good aim and even as Sephiroth watched, she was improving in her execution and aim.

"Isn't the first normally to disassemble a weapon before firing it."

"That's for the army, we're the Turks, yo! 'Sides, she already passed that off. Beat a few records too. She was pretty much raised by Turks, remember?"

Sephiroth supposed that if she had been trusted with a gun in her childhood, then it made a degree of sense that she would be allowed to fire one from the beginning of her training.

He examined her, Nerilka Thomas with a candid gaze.

She was small, about 5'3" to his eye.

 _No...5'2"._

He corrected himself after sweeping his eye over her again.

There was a little natural color to her skin that kept her from being too pale, and she had a hint of red in her brown hair that brought a little more life to her appearance. But it was the eyes that caught and held his attention. A dark, rich azure blue flecked with paler spots. Like a starry night sky somewhere quiet and peaceful.

The eyes were the window to the soul, and when she caught his gaze and held it, Sephiroth knew that she was someone worth knowing. A friend worth holding onto. She didn't seem afraid, per say, simply a little wary and curious. Much like he was.

When she looked away, it felt neither like a dismissal or a retreat. The message had been sent, he was seen and acknowledged and now it was his move.

He waited until Tsung gave the all clear by pulling off his sound cancelling earmuffs before approaching, bypassing Tseng entirely and going right for the one he was truly interested in.

"Miss Thomas." He said coolly.

"General." She was keeping it formal. Good he knew how to do that.

"I came to see for myself why Reno was in my office grousing about a newcomer who was promoted above him." He said plainly, looking around at the bullet riddled targets. There was hardly any variation between her targets and Tseng's. "Clearly, he's just sour that someone beat his record so easily."

A faint smile flickered at the corner of her mouth for an instant.

"Not that, sir. It's because I turned him on his ear for sleeping while he was supposed to be filing the incoming reports from those who are out policing the city today." That made more sense. She'd gotten him in trouble and gotten promoted above him for doing it. But just doing it once wouldn't have gotten her promoted...

"I take it this happened multiple times." The smile grew a tiny bit and Tseng interjected.

"Six times, to date." He seemed pleased and rightly so. Sephiroth looked down at the girl, who looked both very young, but so much older than she should be...

"I will have to request that you be put to working with my department, Miss Thomas. Your presence would no doubt improve our own efficiency tremendously."

"I will put it under advisement, Sir, but I will still be in training for another two months." Only now did she glance at Tseng who nodded.

"Your mornings will be for paper work, alternating by the day. Afternoons and evenings will be for training."

"When can you start?" Sephiroth addressed the question both at her and Tseng.

"Next Monday." She said confidently.

"I look forward to working with you, Miss Thomas."

"Likewise, General Sephiroth."


	3. Ambition

**It should be obvious once you read this, but this is not canon. Nothing here but crack! Enjoy!**

-vVv-

Rill decided after she had finished troubleshooting any unexpected events for the next week, that she was going to try something.

A peaceful, covert, and complete takeover of the Shinra company. She finished the plans on a napkin during her lunch break and set them into motion when she returned to the tower.

-vVv-

 _Phase One: Remove or discredit intolerable executives into resigning._

 _Scarlet._

 _Heidegger._

 _Hojo._

 _Palmer._

 _Have replacements ready._

 _Phase Two: Implement reform wherever necessary._

 _Weapons: Cut inflated budget, add additional testing requirements._

 _Army: Promote efficient, morally upright officers._

 _Hojo: Scrap every bit of the SOLDIER serum and push for new research._

 _Space and engineering: Upgrade space and flight program, increase advertising to draw in civilian support._

 _Firstly: Scarlet, double fronted attack._

-vVv-

"Keep in mind though, this absolutely must remain covert. Much as I dislike her for her professional conduct, Madam Scarlet is still a department executive. This must be covered up as quickly as possible. Is that understood?" Rill spoke crisply to a Turk that she knew despised Scarlet with a burning passion. The woman put on a very convincing smile.

"I'll get right on it, Miss Thomas."

 _Once the cat's paw has ensured that the entire city knows about the dirty details, both Scarlet and Pres Shinra will suffer._

Sure enough, it happened very quickly. The city was in an uproar. Embezzlement, bribery, blackmail, fraud, and a curious late night photo of Scarlet and a man that might have been the president...

She resigned quickly and fled to the outskirts of civilization.

A promising engineer in the department that was shunted into the recently vacated seat. It wasn't anyone who had gotten credit for any major developments, but he had been involved in all of them. He was not happy with the extra responsibilities, but he got it shaped up and under control very quickly. The inefficiency was grating on his nerves.

-vVv-

 _Secondly: Heidegger. The man is a heavy handed tyrant, but he follows all protocol to the exact letter when it suits him. And usually it does. Thus, an alternative way of having him removed._

Heidegger was called into his psychical and found that he was vastly unsuited to continue in his position as the head of Public Safety. He was overweight, had weak lungs and his stress levels were through the roof. The public called for his resignation on account that he would drive himself into the ground. It was better that he retire and pass on the reigns to the next generation so as to preserve the value of his experience.

 _If he is said to have a flaw, or a major flaw at least, of late, it would be his habit of overindulging. The days when he was a capable fighter and commander have long since passed, and pointing that out comparing him to the condition of the SOLDIER 1st Class will bring on enough social pressure to have him put aside._

-vVv-

 _Next: Hojo._

 _Must be removed in as sure and indirect a way as possible. No real way of salvaging him. Another two fronted attack since Hojo is President Shinra's pet due to him creating the SOLDIER serum._

One eager journalist discovered the files of an experiment Hojo had done then discarded once the specimens had died. His article was swiftly banned from the papers, but spread like wildfire on the internet and by word of mouth. President Shinra cut Hojo loose like deadweight, frantically trying to keep control of his company, and not knowing why everything had suddenly started to go so wrong.

He disappeared into a riot and was never heard from again.

-vVv-

 _Lastly: Palmer._

 _Almost too easy..._

Palmer was sued, then fired on account of his sexual harassment complaints being finally noticed and acted upon.

Three days had passed since Rill began her coup.

By the evening of the third day, President Shinra suddenly and mysteriously resigned. Leaving the company in chaos.

The new executive department heads, plus the remaining two, met to discuss just who should be voted in to replace the CEO. It was Reeve who recommended Nerilka Thomas since she was already a relatively well known figure with a strong positive reputation. She was solid in her work and reliable as clockwork, something that would be sorely needed in the face of so much change and confusion bordering on anarchy.

The tally was taken in the departments and the overwhelming majority agreed to support her.

Shinra Electricity announce the name of their new President a day after the resignation of it's founder as CEO.

President Nerilka Thomas.

-vVv-

"I #$%ING KNEW IT!" Rufus screamed at a completely uninvolved ceiling. "I KNEW SHE WAS PLANNING SOMETHING!" He was extremely impressed at how quickly it had been done, and even more jealous at how easy she had made it seem.

Now he just had to find some way to get her to agree to an equal partnership. Not only had she deposed his father with minimal infighting, but she had also gotten rid of the intolerable morons among the executives.

 _I would marry this woman if I didn't think it might get me killed! How the hell did she do it!?_

The following Monday, Rufus having flown in from Helena Lodge overnight to meet with the new CEO, he was dumbfounded to see a new announcement on the company message boards.

 _New CEO resigns after two days in office!_

"Rill: What the hell?" He asked flatly as he entered her in the top floor office where she was just tidying up. She gave him an innocuous smile, eyes twinkling behind her glasses.

"Whatever do you mean, Mr Vice President?" He started level...he really meant to but his voice just got louder the more it sunk in...

"You took over the company in less than a week. You slid it out from under me without a single jostle, riot, or negative scandel involving you. You had the whole world eating out of your hand! Why would you resign?!"

-vVv-

Rufus gazed blankly at the battle of Icicle vodka that the Turks thought they had managed to keep a secret. Rill's answer to his incredulous question was still bouncing around in his head.

" _I just wanted to see if I could do it in under under a month. Never planned on becoming the President. It all went much faster than I thought it would." She looked almost quizzically bemused. As if she herself wasn't quite sure how this had all come to be._

 _"Regardless, Wutai has signed a trade agreement, the details are here, already translated." She handed him a folder, making for the door. Doubtless to go back to her old office._

 _I am too sober for thought right now._ He concluded, throwing back the remains in the bottom of the glass. He never thought that there would be a woman who could come close to his manipulative prowess. And it had all been out of idle curiousity... He never thought there would be any chance of him actually liking a girl enough to even consider something like that.

" _Marry me."_

" _Go get drunk, sir."_


End file.
